EVERETT — Going uphill is a bear. A Moped has more power. And the frosted glass windows make for a zillion blind spots.
That said, like an elderly relative with the look and charm of a bygone era, Everett’s two remaining trolley buses are much loved.
"They have character," driver Terry Hallmark said as he steered a red and gold Everett Parks trolley bus across Broadway at Tower Street.
In operation since 1985, they are nearing the end of the line. Last year, the third trolley was scrapped after it blew an engine. Parts for the 20-year-old Boyertown-built trolley buses are scarce and expensive.
Next year, the trolleys are due to be replaced, said Ardelle Brandenburg, Everett’s cultural arts coordinator.
"We are considering replacing them with a pair of transit vans that are ADA accessible," Brandenburg added.
The Parks Department plans to purchase two transit vans from Everett Transit for $10,000. Each van can carry 15 to 22 passengers.
But can they carry them in style?
When the vans arrive, the trolleys, will be scrapped added Jan Tanner, recreation supervisor.
Everett’s love affair with the trolleys is evidenced by the number of requests Parks’ officials receive from politicians, private parties and neighborhood associations to borrow them.
Each year, it receives more than a dozen requests to borrow the trolleys for local events. That’s in spite of the fact they ride like an old wooden tugboat; they rock, they roll, they bump and they growl.
And they’re not even real electric trolleys. They are diesel-powered, tourist-type vehicles, built on a truck chassis. But no matter, said Hallmark, who drives them part time for events.
"A lot of kids have never seen a trolley," Hallmark said. "This is the closest they get. They dig it."
Each trolley can haul more than 30 adults — or if you really pack ‘em in, 48 kids, Hallmark said.
The seats resemble park benches with their wooden slats and iron scrollwork frames. The interior is entirely paneled in wood.
"I see it drive by all the time. It’s taking kids to field trips," Lesley Jo Sheline of Everett said. "They better keep the trolley, it’s part of Everett."
However, the Parks Department may consider saving one trolley from the scrap yard.
"We may retain one trolley and refurbish it completely. It’s up to the Parks Recreation Program," said parks project coordinator Jonna Hauser. "In the next couple of months they’ll decide." The Parks budget allows officials to spend up to $100,000 to refurbish it, Hauser said.
"But we do not anticipate spending anywhere near the amount."
On a recent day, the No. 2400 trolley carried Everett Community College job fair participants to and from Broadway Plaza near Tower Street.
For Dixie Burke of Everett, the trolleys’ proposed fate is a sign of the times — a tendency to replace the old with the new. "You certainly see too many of the old things taken out."
"I’d like to see them keep them — I’d even pay to ride it," Burke said.
They’ve certainly had their moments in Everett history, Hallmark added. Describing the role they played during the USS Abraham Lincoln homecoming, tears came to his eyes.
"The trolley was full of Iraqi kids laughing and waving flags on their way to greet the ship."
Reporter Janice Podsada: 425-339-3029 or podsada@heraldnet.com.
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